It looks like the coming months will see new initiatives to boost the economy, following the second quarter contraction (now revised up slightly to -0.5%) and a record trade deficit.
No. 10 is aware, though, that the biggest single influence on the mood of the party — the country, for that matter — is the economy. So Cameron intends to fill the hole left in the coalition’s legislative programme by the failure of Lords reform with economic measures. This legislation, being called the Jobs Bill in No. 10, will be made up of three parts: deregulation, infrastructure and industrial strategy. The precise composition of the bill is being hammered out. But the decision to include deregulation is recognition that attempts to make departments deregulate their own sectors have failed.
But, according to The Times (£), the Lib Dems are not to be sidelined:
Nick Clegg has ordered his senior ministers to draw up a list of economic reforms as he vies with David Cameron to fill the void left by the collapse of the Government’s House of Lords reforms.
The group will examine how better to get credit moving to businesses and how to ensure there is sufficient demand on the economy. Mr Clegg has already suggested that he thinks the Government’s banking reforms could go farther…
The Liberal Democrats need to be seen at the forefront of efforts to draw up a “Plan A-plus”.
The team includes Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, Danny Alexander, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Ed Davey, the Energy Secretary, and Steve Webb, the Pensions Minister. Also included in the group, which met this week, is David Laws, the former Treasury Minister who is expected to return to Government with a job in the Cabinet Office after next month’s ministerial reshuffle.
Meanwhile, The Telegraph reports that,
Eric Pickles, the Communities Secretary, is to send troubleshooters into 13 local authorities to help negotiate the resumption of large housing developments.
He believes that kick-starting existing developments will avoid the need for further deregulation of the planning system…
New proposals are expected in the autumn in an economic regeneration Bill which will also include plans to improve infrastructure and aviation capacity.
Labour also have their own plans (Financial Times, registration required):
Ed Miliband is drawing up proposals for a National Investment Bank to funnel money into business and infrastructure in a move that puts pressure on the government to follow suit…
The Financial Times revealed last week that some figures in government would like to see RBS fully nationalised to force it to lend more to small business – although that plan has been blocked by George Osborne, the chancellor…
Labour will use its autumn party conference to repeat its call for an alternative “growth package”.
As Nick Clegg hinted at the Social Liberal Forum Conference, we may also see the Government use its super-low cost of borrowing to help housing associations build more homes, which would be very welcome.
Any legislation will hopefully be more than a way to fill in parliamentary time and be seen to be doing something, but it’s good to see recognition that “we can’t go on like this”.
* Adam Corlett is an economic analyst and Lib Dem member
Follow @libdemvoice.org on Bluesky
Like us on Facebook
Subscribe to our feed
Sign-up for our daily email digest
The Joy of Six 1597
Reform's link to Iranian regime revealed
Library reopening - the video
Yes, I'm still in favour of making the House of Lords democratic
Matt (Bristol)
Simon Robinson
Tony Vickers
David Blake
Richard Dickson
4 Comments
house building is a win win policy. sbame it’s taken 2 years….
House building caused Spain to seek bailout funds! It sounds like a powerful team. Perhaps this is still Plan A, but the hidden part, which says Get the bad stuff over quick so the country can feel good again just before the next election!
The bottom line is that the Osborne/Cameron economic policy has completely failed as some predicted at the outset. Now it seems we are to be treated to more of the same – some as yet to be decided cocktail of deregulation etc. but he refuses to accept there is a problem with the City. Meanwhile Pickle’s plan sounds remarkably like taking personal control of events on the ground. Whatever happened to localism?
It’s pretty obvious they are making it up as they go along and just praying it somehow turns out well.
Tom Jones is right – not only do we need to resolve our long-standing crisis in housing supply, but housing is very labour-intensive – and, crucially, intensively uses low- and medium-skilled labour, thus providing a lot of well-paying jobs for people who did not do very well at school. With 2.5 million unemployed, this should be an obvious solution.
There is no reason why this should cause any increase in public debt or destabilise the banks as long as the mechanism to stimulate housing growth is through reform of land-use planning restrictions rather than subsidies to developers and public sector housebuilding ( the latter being exactly what Pickles has planned, by the sounds of things).